Information and interactive services available to mobile vehicles are increasing due to the demand of mobile vehicle operators for services such as navigation assistance, directory assistance, vehicle maintenance assistance, roadside assistance, information services assistance, and emergency assistance. These services are accessible via interfaces such as voice-recognition computer applications, touch-screen computer displays, computer keyboards, or a series of buttons on the dashboard or console of a vehicle.
Currently, telematics service call centers, in-vehicle compact disk (CD) or digital video display (DVD) media, web portals, and voice-enabled phone portals provide various types of location services, including driving directions, stolen vehicle tracking, traffic information, weather reports, restaurant guides, ski reports, road condition information, accident updates, street routing, landmark guides, and business finders.
For example, traffic and driving directions can be accessed through a voice portal that uses incoming number identification to generate location information based on the area code or prefix of the phone number, or to access location information stored in a user's profile associated with the phone number. Users can be prompted to enter more details through a voice interface. Other examples are web and wireless portals that offer location-based services such as maps and driving directions where the user enters both a start and an end address. Some of these services can have a voice interface.
Providing these services often requires the use of cleared numbers, i.e., numbers that can be used by any phone on the network regardless of the level of service to which the phone is subscribed. These cleared numbers must be properly loaded in the switches of the cellular networks. If a cleared number, for example a telematics service enrollment number that a subscriber calls to configure existing service with the telematics service provider, is not properly loaded, the user must contact the service provider via a landline phone or other means, sometimes inconveniencing the user.
Other network conditions, for example the accuracy of GPS coordinates stored in cellular network switches, adequacy of cellular and GPS coverage areas, and cellular tower capacity also contribute to customer satisfaction or lack thereof. Assuring the reliability of cellular networks is the responsibility of the various cellular network providers. Nonetheless, a telematics service provider has an interest in data collection related to these network conditions because it allows the telematics service provider to locate cellular network trouble spots and provide that data to the cellular network provider, thereby increasing customer satisfaction and reducing costs of operation.
It is therefore desirable to provide a system and method for testing cellular network integrity using telematics that overcomes the limitations, challenges, and obstacles described above.